when there was always an examination of the children, and the school-prizes were given away. There was one prize more valued than any other at Stoke School, that for good conduct; and this year every one expected that Susan Grant would have it. She herself had confidently hoped for it, but of late she had i. dared to dwell upon the thought. The great day arrived, and all the children were assembled in the school-room, with many of their parents, amongst whom was Susan's mother. Susan felt very faint, and hardly knew what was going on, as the prizes were given away by the clergyman, until her attention was suddenly awakened by hearing her own name. “Susan Grant, I have great pleasure in o #. the prize for good conduct, as I feel sure that you thoroughly deserve it. You have won golden opinions from everybody, and I am confident,” he added (looking round the room), “that no one present can have a word to say against this decision." There was a short pause, and Susan heard some one say to the governess, “Isn't that the sister of the child who was drowned 7” “Yes, poor girl; and she was so fond of her little sister that I don't think she'll ever get over it.” This mention of little Nelly, and all the bitter thoughts which it called up, was more than Susan could bear. The powers of good and evil were struggling within her for mastery; she felt it to be the turning-point of her life. Should she dare to receive the reward which she knew was undeserved, the gate of repentance would be closed against her, and she must go on in her evil course of deceit. On the other hand, how could she have courage, by one word, to destroy the good character which she had taken long years to build up ! These thoughts flashed through her mind in a moment : again she heard her name called. “Susan, come and take this work

box, with your name engraved upon it. Mrs. Jermyn has kindly fitted it up for you, and I am sure you will be pleased with it. It is an honour you may well be proud of, to be chosen as the best girl in the school.” Poor girl this had been the ambition of her life : and must she give it up As she sat there, pale and trembling, all eyes were fixed upon her, and she longed to sink into the ground. It was a fearful conflict, but the good conquered in the end. Her mother, anxious and alarmed, came to her side to encourage her, and then Susan, hiding her face in her hands, sobbed out, “Oh, mother, mother it was all my fault : I don't deserve the prize—dear little Nelly! . . . Oh, forgive me!” Her voice was choked by her emotion: she could no longer restrain herself, and wept in bitter grief. The school-room became a scene of confusion :- what could be the matter with Susan Grant? Some kindly suggested that perhaps she had dwelt upon her little sister's death until she fancied herself guilty of it; other, less charitably disposed, thought that she might have let Nelly fall into the stream, and then been afraid to tell of it. Meanwhile Susan, with the help of her mother and Jane, had left the school. On their way home, with many bitter tears, she told the whole truth: not trying to excuse her conduct, but simply telling all that had happened from the time she received the shilling until her father's return home on that eventful evening. Sadly as the mother grieved over her daughter's sin, she * trusted that this bitter trial might e a lesson to her for life. And so it proved in the end; but evil habits are not conquered by one effort, as Susan found by sad experience. Her story was for a time the talk of the village, and the poor girl felt it very hard to bear the cold looks of the neighbours, —the hints and whispers of her schoolfellows; but she strove to take it all humbly and bravely, knowing that

she was only reaping what she had sown. Truth must be the foundation of all goodness, and as Susan was taught this great law, she gradually learnt to

care less for the good opinion of her fellow-creatures, and more for her real character in the sight of God. Thus, in after years, she was able to look back with thankfulness upon the first great sorrow of her life.

A WORKMAN who had been long out of employment, and who day by day had gone round to seek a job, and had failed so often that he was quite in despair, came home one evening wearied and faint; and when he saw the pale face of his patient wife, he broke down, and leaning his head upon his hand, sobbed as if his heart would break. His little boy was sorely grieved. He had been taught at school, that if we were in trouble we should call upon God. He had not understood what trouble meant before, but now he thought, ‘Surely this is trouble ! I must call on God to help.' He was too

full of distress, at seeing his father and mother crying so bitterly, to be shy, or to think of himself at all, but he knelt down and said the prayer that he had learnt at school. The words were not very suitable to the trouble that the father was in, but they served to remind him that there was One who said, “Come unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He called his boy to his knee, and kissed his brow, and thanked him for the lesson he had taught him; and said, “We must wait and trust, hope on and keep trying, and God will bring us through our troubles yet.”

THE CLOUDS.

ONE day John and Mary took a walk with their father. It was a very warm, sultry day, and far up in the sky were many clouds. “Just look,” said John, “what big clouds !” “Oh, yes,” said Mary; “I wonder what the Lord has made the clouds for " “The clouds are very useful," said the father. “The Lord has made them because He loves us. The clouds are big curtains.” “Curtains !” exclaimed the children astonished. “Yes, truly,” answered the father; “don’t you know what we use curtains for " “Oh, yes,” said Mary, “I know. When the sun shines too strongly, we i. down the curtains to keep off the eat." “Quite so,” replied the father. “Now, when the sun shines very hot on the fields, the cows in the meadow are languid and uncomfortable, and the flowers and plants bow their little heads to the ground. Then the Lord spreads out the clouds before the sun, just as you pull down the curtains, and the cows enjoy the sweet grass, and the flowers and so lift up their heads with gratitude 7" While the father was speaking it beto rain. They went into a farmouse for shelter. The children placed themselves at the window to look at the rain, which was falling in heavy showers. “That rain, too,” said the father, “comes from the clouds.” “What a pity!” said John; “we cannot walk now; everything is wet.” “True,” answered the father. “Still it is very useful. The Lord has made the clouds to give rain. They are big watering-pots.” “Watering-pots!" said Mary, opening her eyes in wonder.

“Yes, my child,” said the father. “What does our gardener use his watering-pot for " “To wet the ground,” said John, quickly. “Yes," cried Mary; “for if the ground is too dry, the flowers will not grow.” “Just so,” said the father. “But when the big meadows and fields are too dry, what gardener is big enough to water them And when the farmer's land is so dry that the potatoes, and the cabbage, and the wheat, won't grow, who is to wet all that ?" “Oh, I see I see " exclaimed John. “Then the Lord takes those big clouds and presses rain out of them.” “He does,” said the father; “the clouds are big watering-pots with which the Lord wets this beautiful world of ours, just as the gardener wets our garden.” The rain was soon over, and the father again went out with his children. “How nice it is!” they said, as they breathed the cool, fresh air. “Yes,” said the father; “the Lord has done it with his big watering-pots. Now, look at the clouds.” The children looked up and cried, “How beautiful 1" There the great clouds floated about in the sky. The sun had just broken through them, and given them all sorts of fine colours. Some had gilt edges; others were red like crimson; some, again, were purple, pink, light blue, and dark blue. Many of them were in strange shapes. On the left-hand side was a large bluish cloud, that looked just like a large ship with its sails set up to the top ; on the right was a dark cloud, that had very much the shape of a cow with three horns. The children laughed in delight as they found out what the clouds were like. “Now, you see,” said the father, “that the clouds are pictures too. We hang up pictures and engravings in our rooms. So the Lord hangs up golden,

purple, and blue clouds on the walls of the sky, to make a beautiful drawingroom for our whole earth.”—De Liefde.

A COOL CORNISH MINER.-Some years ago a party of Cambridge philosophers undertook, for a scientific object, to penetrate into the vasty depths of Wheal Fortune Mine. The venerable Professor Farish, who made one of the number, used to relate the following startling incident of his visit. On his ascent in the ordinary manner, by means of the bucket, and with a miner for a fellow-passenger, he perceived, as he thought, certain plain signs that the rope was rather frail. “How often do you change your ropes, my good man?”. he inquired, when about half way from the bottom of the awful abyss. “We change them every three months, sir," replied the man in the bucket; "and we shall change this one to-morrow, if we get up safe!"-Builder.

often to eat bread and drink wine together, to remind themselves, and to show to others, that Christ's body was broken for them, and that His blood was shed for them. Though so many of His people neglect to do so, yet their Master gave them this very plain command with His own dying lips, “Do this in remembrance of Me."

Those who obey the bidding of their Lord find strength and refreshment for their souls in so doing ; and therefore when sickness comes upon them, or when they are laid upon the bed of death, they wish to be sustained by the same heavenly food. They have tried to be faithful soldiers in their march through this world, and unto the end they desire to “Fight the fight, maintain the strife,

Strengthened with the bread of life.” It is one of the most cheering signs of our own times that there are so many men who are not only brave soldiers of our Queen, but also loyal soldiers in the army of Christ. Too commonly the uniform of a soldier is a sign that its wearer is careless, ungodly, and profane ; but happily, now-a-days, there are both officers and men who are not ashamed to own themselves humble followers of the Lord Jesus,- and among such there may be seen, from time to time, such a group as that in the picture.

The dying soldier is receiving from the hands of the army chaplain the sacred emblems of the body and blood of his great Captain, while his wife and two pious comrades join with him in holy communion. May the number of such soldiers who are “faithful unto death" be increased a thousand-fold in every barrack and every camp, and may God's good Spirit enable them to resist the sneers and ridicule of their fellows, and to stand firm amid their special temptations, cheering them with such thoughts as those of a well-known hymn,

THE SOLDIER'S LAST SACRAMENT. THE word “ Sacrament,” in Latin,

meant a soldier's oath of fidelity to his leader, and with us the two Sacraments are not only channels by which God's grace is given to the soul, but also are outward badges of our loyalty to our Lord Jesus, who is the Captain of our Salvation.

When a child is baptized he is signed “ with the sign of the cross, in token that hereafter he shall not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under His banner against sin, the world, and the devil, and to continue Christ's faithful soldier and servant unto his life's end."

And because we are so very ready to forget our Lord, who died for use and to neglect the battles that we ought, day by day, to fight in His name - He appointed the other Sacrament, and said that His soldiers and servants were